Label(s): Self ReleasedThis post's artist is from the March 2017 Mix. This is track #1.

You can download: the March 2017 Mix#3 right hereor get the new April 2017 Mix#4 here.

For all posts I have a template. At the top of the template is the band section for "genres" and there are probably 20 or so genres in there that I erase as I do the post, generally whittling that shit down to 3-8. For this post, however, I pretty much left them all in. In case you didn't know, BEAST JESUS play what I would probably label as clusterfuck-core. Each song recorded by the band hits at least 5 different genres and doesn't mix them, but instead hop from one to the next at dizzying speeds. The members come from a myriad of backgrounds including screamo (Caitlyn Bailey), metalcore (Of Wolves And Swine), synth-pop (Love in Athens), shoegaze (Disquiet Apartment) and an alt/prog band (Game Theory). To try and make band comparisons for BEAST JESUS is fucking useless, as any comparison is automatically null and void a few minutes later (at most) after making the statement. The shifts are sometimes seamless and other times jarring. Maybe this is a good stepping stone to explain the remainder of this post, as it flows thusly:

1 - Blender Analogy (no, I'm not joking)

2 - 'Eros Obfuscate' Review

So here goes the Blender Analogy aka BEAST JESUS' metamorphosis from the beginning to end of 2016. In early 2016 BEAST JESUS released their four-song EP 'In Various States of Disassembly' which is okay. I mean, I like parts of it but each song doesn't flow all that well for me. It's like trying to drink a fruit smoothie that hasn't been blended. On their own, each little genre section is decent to very good, although trying to swallow it whole just didn't work for me. But then...BUT THEEEEEEENNNN they released 'Eros Obfuscate' in very late 2016 and those fine people from the Philippines found their blade and mashed the shit outta those fruit chunks. Now it's like drinking a fine fruit blend that'll have you smacking your lips after downing it in three seconds flat.

'Eros Obfuscate' is amazing. Truly, the growth from the four-song EP to the one-song EP is astounding. Wait, did I just say one-track EP? Yep. One song...but it's 16 minutes long! The styles flow in and out, weaving more of a story and journey than a mishmash of parts. I first heard this in the first week of 2017 and immediately slapped myself in the face thrice for not listening earlier and therefore including this EP in my top 10 of 2016, which in hindsight it totally is. Are you the kind of person who fucks off after not liking a track for a few minutes? Well stick your impatient ass out cuz although this thing begins like the soundtrack to Titanic, it hits everything in the middle from space-rock to choirs and screamo to pop-punk and then over to metal and back to screamo. It's a unique beast that must have taken forever to hash out and write, because the flow of it all is so smooth you'll be amazed when you look at the timer and see you're 13 minutes into the song and haven't been bored once.

So let's run through this song that still has me salivating after more than 20 listens (that's about 330 minutes of listening to one song in only two and a half months!) later. "Eros Obfuscate" is 16:25 in length. The opening begins with somber piano and slightly lifting orchestral music that builds and hits its climax at 49 seconds, sounding much like the opening to a movie. At 1:22 the song takes quite a natural step into Disney/Titanic-esque closing of the first movement, which is kinda cheesy but it fits really well and I love it. At 1:52 BEAST JESUS pick up their instruments and create a sonic web of spacey and ethereal post-hardcore/shoegaze intro. By 2:36 the vocals sneak in with some subdued, mildly buried and whispered singing that end up being an earworm and a half. This calming and lifting section begins to resemble the last Fear Before foray into post-hardcore and is something I hum to myself on a daily basis. At 4:20 we are met with a pop-punk/emo verse that melts into crushing drums and the first of many breakdowns and just when you expect shit to get really crazy - a jazz/prog interlude. This thing explodes by 5:40 with venomous screaming and bursts of metalcore which include some sick little tap riffs from 6:00 to 6:17. At this point we are met with blatant noise atop what may or may not resemble The Dillinger Escape Plan. Just after the seven-minute mark the songs dips into what could almost be labeled death metal territory, only to have a choir lift the song out and into pop-punk territory again. Jeeeesus...errrrr, JESUS BEAST! At 8:18 the riffs start coming in hordes and bust into sick screamo breakdowns following 8:30 that remind me of their previous outfit Caitlyn Bailey. At 10:24 the song begins to break down into slower sections as it prepares for the epic conclusion, and in doing so takes on the form of now defunct-Youth Novel for 30 seconds or so. From 11-12 minutes we are graced with a beautifully passionate and earnest spoken word passage that has the vocalist sounding like they are on the verge of tears due to utter frustration. This fades into silence for at 12:18 the end begins, and it is glorious, my friends. At the 12:40 mark "Eros Obfuscate" goes for the jugular and succeeds with scary precision, as the mathy/melodic guitars crash together with driving drums, yelled vocals and eventually piercing screams. This whirlwind of amazingness hits a second wind at 13:40 but collapses by 14 minutes. The final two and half minutes consist of the transition into complete noise, a quick little breakdown, and then the death drones of each instrument. Whether or not this final part is a nod to Old Man Gloom is probably answered in an exclusive little ditty below:

Francis from the band gave me this explanation earlier today when I asked him about BEAST JESUS' influences: "I think we've got a lot of things revolving around a post-hardcore foundation. We have a lot of indie and math rock in our DNA, but that all comes second to the screamo, post-metal, and noise rock influences we have. Collectively, we grew up on stuff from Level-Plane, Robotic Empire, Creation, Earache, Relapse, Hydra Head, Mostly late 90s/early 00s hardcore. Oh, but also Creation, 4AD, Sarah Records, Shelflife, etc. All amazing labels. Ebullition and 31G/Gravity too. And cheesy virtuoso guitar music like Steve Vai. We do like a lot of jazz and classical stuff too. Our bass player comes from more of a college rock background, and got into extreme music later on. The rest of us all grew up in the hardcore scene as teenagers."

So there we are. BEAST JESUS and 'Eros Obfuscate' are fucking unreal. There has to be at least something in there for you, and likely, the entire thing will blow you away. I am stoked like crazy for whatever they end up dropping next, regardless of genre or length. Oh, and I've changed my mind. This is blender-core.

P.S. The band recently did a set where they covered old Caitlyn Bailey songs and it was all recorded and posted here!

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